Baldwin Park sycamore trees given special pesticide to fight deadly beetles

BALDWIN PARK, Calif. (KABC) -- Measures are being taken at public parks in Los Angeles to combat a beetle that is killing sycamore trees and others across the Southland.

Baldwin Park lost trees to the polyphagous shot hole borer, which is the pest that is causing problems all over Southern California.

"Most of the time I get called in and it's too late. The beetle is already to the point where it's killed the tree or going to," said Darryl Weiss with Agriserve Pest Control.

The beetle is tiny and hard to see, but it leaves a mark of stains up and down tree trunks.

"Essentially what happens is the tree gets what we call girdled. It can't move water and nutrients through its veins anymore and it dies," said Dawn Fluharty, with Arborjet.

The injection treatments that contain a pesticide cost more, but it is also more effective and safer for the environment.

"The whole idea behind this is that the chemical stays trapped inside the tree. It's not in the air, it's not in the soil, it's not in the water. It's just where it needs to be to treat the pest or disease," Fluharty said.

The sycamores will take their medicine - an injection of the pest protection that should shield them from the beetles for years.